


Restoring Honor

by Petenshi



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Endless Waltz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:38:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8738596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petenshi/pseuds/Petenshi
Summary: When you've spent so much time making so many mistakes, it's hard not to doubt yourself.





	

Wufei stared out at the desert landscape, the remains of Nataku still smoldering as the last of her great will burned out.  He was still reeling from the conversation he’d had earlier when Sally Po tracked him down with a proposal.  
  
_“I don’t have the greatest track record for championing the right cause.”_  
  
That had been painful to admit and she’d just smiled sadly at him.  
  
_“You don’t have to decide immediately, take a couple days to think it over.”_  
  
He wished Yuy was still around, as humiliating as it was, he didn’t trust his judgment and wanted the other pilot to assure him he wasn’t jumping into another disaster of his own making.  
  
Perhaps it wasn’t a weakness; perhaps he could view it as learning to seek out counsel before making rash decisions.  He snorted to himself, yanking on the end of his ponytail in frustration.  Part of him agreed with that but part him also was annoyed he couldn’t make up his own damn mind.  
  
Staring at the phone in his hand, he started to flip through the contacts when Maxwell’s name appeared above Sally’s.  He hadn’t put it in there but he wasn’t surprised, 02 had a habit of poking into things and while Wufei would never admit this to his face, Duo was the best by far of all the pilots at making technology work any way he wanted it to.  
  
As loud and brash and _dumb_ as Maxwell seemed at times, he too had managed to not get tricked or caught up in propaganda.  Duo had been Heero’s first choice for support while Wufei was so far down the rabbit hole he nearly didn’t make it out.  If he couldn’t talk to Heero about Sally’s proposal, perhaps Duo would make a decent sounding board.  
  
“Please please tell me the world isn’t ending again.”  Duo’s first words when he picked up had Wufei closing his eyes in shame.  
  
“Maxwell.”  
  
“Wufei?  What the hell? As much as I love hearing your dulcet tones, you are, no offense, about the last person I expect to be calling me.”  
  
Wufei swallowed his pride and made himself plow on.  “I find myself in need of some guidance.  Sally came and offered me a job but…it’s complicated and I’m not sure it’s a good idea.  I was hoping for advice.”  
  
“And so you called me?  Dude my moral compass is so far skewed to the right it pretty much just comes back around by default.”  
  
Wufei couldn’t help but laugh, sinking onto a rock and letting some of the knots in his stomach unwind.  
  
“That must be my problem, I stopped too soon and ended up short.”  
  
Duo made a humming noise on the other end of the line and Wufei could almost imagine the other pilot tinkering with a gadget, hands busy while his mind processed their conversation.  
  
“So what’s up?  I can’t promise you I’ll give you anything helpful but I’m willing to offer what I can.”  
  
Desperately glad he’d called; he took a moment to gather his thoughts and then started to outline Sally’s offer to join and help start a peacekeeping force.  
  
When he fell silent, he waited, curious as to what Duo would say.  
  
“Do you trust Sally?”  
  
The question surprised him and he chewed on his lip in thought.  “Yes?  Sort of?  I know she believes in this project and thinks it’s the right direction to move peace from an idea to an actual goal.  I just…Mariemaia believed in her goal as well and I...”  
  
“So you don’t trust yourself.”  
  
It was an uncomfortable and bitter thing at how quickly Duo reached that conclusion but it _was_ the reason he’d called.  
  
“But it appeals to you, right?  This…Preventers.  What about it attracts you? Are you doing it for revenge?  Repentance? Honor?”  
  
Wufei winced, “Not revenge, I have nothing left in me for that.  But maybe…maybe repentance.  Some way to fix my mistakes and bring honor back to my family’s name.  God, Duo, I was such a fuck up.  Everything I did was for…what?  I lost everything. My family, my colony.  My honor is the least of those on a long list but I can’t restore anything else.”  He realized he was crying, voice cracking.  
  
Duo made a soothing noise on the other end of the line, “Wufei everything you did was for a purpose.  Your intentions were good even if you went about them the wrong way.  We’ve all made mistakes.”  
  
He was silent for a moment and when he spoke again, Wufei had a strain to hear him.  “How do you think Heero was able to talk you down at the end?  How was it he knew exactly what to say to get through to you?  I know you think he’s practically fucking perfect,” there was a smile in those words, “And I admit he is pretty damn amazing, but he’s screwed up too, you know.  How many nights do you think he lays awake seeing the faces of those we killed on the peace shuttle?”  
  
Wufei couldn’t respond just slid off the rock to prop against it, head tipped back to see the sky.  
  
“Chang Wufei, you are one of the most honorable guys I know.”  
  
“Considering the company you keep Maxwell, that’s not very high praise.”  
  
Duo laughed. “Hey asshole, I’m trying to be all motivational over here.  And besides, I keep some pretty auspicious company I’ll have you know.  Are you saying Quatre Winner, Relena Peacecraft and the previously lauded Heero Yuy aren’t good enough for you?”  
  
Wufei started to laugh as well, rubbing at tears with the back of his hand.  “I’m totally telling Trowa you left him off that list.”  
  
“Trowa Barton is a backstabbing piece of flaming elephant turd who can go rot in a fiery pit for all I care.”  Duo’s tone was downright frosty and it had Wufei laughing harder.  
  
“He wouldn’t really have left you behind.”  
  
“Like hell!”  Duo scoffed and then sighed, getting back on the subject.  “Anyway I’m just saying that you don’t have to worry about restoring something you never lost.  And you should have more faith in yourself.”  
  
“The uniforms make me nervous.  The last thing we need is another military force taking root under the guise of peaceful ideals.”  
  
“Dude, uniforms can be hot.  Except....they’re not shorts are they?  Because that Boy Scout thing you and Trowa had going made me very uncomfortable and is not something to be repeated.”  
  
“You’re an idiot.”  But Wufei was still smiling and he realized now that half the stuff Duo said which sounded like complete nonsense was intended to draw you out.  He wished he’d realized that earlier in the wars.  
  
“So you think I should do it?”  He knew what Duo was trying to do and he knew it was weak of him to need validation but he still wanted someone he trusted, who’d never steered wrong in a sea of conflicting ideas, to tell him he wasn’t screwing up again.  
  
Duo seemed to get it though.  There was a quiet sigh, breath puffing out when he spoke, “It sounds like a good idea.  If Sally offered the job to me I’d probably have taken it.”  
  
Wufei let out a gust of breath, feeling as if strings holding him up had been cut and he was free.  
  
“However!”  Duo cut back in and Wufei felt his heart rate pick up.  “If they come at you with a pair of short shorts and a bandana, you run the hell out of there and look for the nearest hole to hide in.”  
  
He choked, heart calming down, “Duo Maxwell I regret every good thing I ever thought about you.”  
  
He could hear Duo laughing as he hung up on him and stared at the silent phone for a moment.  
  
“As honorable as the great 01, 04 and Relena Peacecraft, huh?”  
  
He was still smiling when he punched in Sally’s number to call her back.


End file.
